Sugar lower yesterday than past 3 weeks!

Well, on my quest to lower my blood sugar numbers and eat less processed foods I was somewhat successful yesterday afternoon. I decided to eat an apple and peanut butter sandwich with raisins. I figured it would make my sugar go up because of all the natural sugars, but I was wrong....VERY WRONG. Roughly two hours after eating lunch my sugar dropped to 65. Now, 65 is not a terrible number but it isn't a great number either. It is too low; especially for someone who has not been less than 70 in no telling how long! It made me feel TERRIBLE. I was shaking and nautious. And honestly, it took a while for it to come back up one it hit me. I do not reccommend getting sugar that low! I probably needed more protein.

For dinner last night we grilled chicken breasts without the bone and fresh corn. I roasted new potatoes in some of our dried herbs (thyme and rosemary), and I steamed fresh green beans that we got out of our garden. I also cut up a side of fresh tomatoes and it was delicious. The first tomato out of my garden this year! It was a pretty plate and had I remembered to take my medicine after dinner like I normally do my sugar wouldn't have gotten as high as 172 like it did before I remembered to take my medicine! Oh well...live and learn. It is very difficult to remember to take 3 different medicines at 3 different times a day. I am learning. I want my sugar under control!

 I forgot to put the corn on my plate before taking a photo! 

And what was my fasting sugar this morning?? 117! That is the BEST it has been since over a month ago when it started to go up again. I'm happy with 117, but it could be better....I had it to 109 before that. So, less processed foods are doing me a good bit better!

We are taking this one step and one less processed food at a time. 

Real Food Dinners

This week I have cooked a couple real food meals. Both of these meals came from "100 Days of Real Food." I started by printing Lisa Leake's menu plans and buying items from the grocery store that I would need. However, once I tried homemade granola, which was excellent, I quickly learned that it spikes my sugar. I think it may be the combination of honey and large amount of rolled oats. Both items have a low GI, but I am very sensitive to foods as my doctor likes to tell me. I won't be making the granola again although it was VERY tasty. I am learning which real foods I can and can not eat. This is definitely going to be a real journey!

The FIRST dinner I made was the "Pork Carnitas." They were very good! My husband even enjoyed them. I found them to be a little more greasy than I was used to in my short months of diet change, but I know that some fats are okay because our body needs fat in order for our brain to work. We just have to have it in moderation. And, the key to any good diet is moderation anyway. I am learning that when we eat real food we are able to eat less as well, so the whole moderation thing really lives up to its name when eating this way!

The SECOND dinner I made was the "Pork Quessidilla" in Menu 4: Summer meal plan. Basically you use leftover pork from the previous night's meal and use Monterrey cheese in the corn tortillas. My husband LOVED them and thought he would need more than 2, but he DID NOT! Real food is more filling!

 These were very tasty with sour cream and salsa on the top. I will admit that the salsa was some that I had on hand already. It is not considered a real food because it is processed, but like I said....taking it slow!

Real Food?

I came across a website/blog this week that a mother wrote to tell her experiences of living with non processed foods for 100 days. Well, her 100 days is up and she is still going at it. Apparently, processed foods don't keep us full very long...duh! But they are so much more convenient and cheaper by far. However, I am intrigued.

Why am I intrigued you might ask? Because my blood sugars are crazy and my doctor has added two more pills to my daily routine. I know take 3 pills a day to control by blood sugar and they say my pancreas is rapidly losing function. So, I'm willing to try anything at this point. If it will make me feel full longer, I say "Why Not?!" I have lost 40 some odd pounds since November 2011. I walk around during work and afterwards more than most people. But diet and exercise aren't cutting it.


So, here is to TRYING this whole non processed food, AKA "Real Food" diet. I am going to take baby steps though because my family may not really like this approach. But with it being summer, I might get away with it!

I have looked through my cabinets and I need to really clean house, but I do not want to be wasteful. The author of "100 Days of Real Food" says to start out slow. I'm going to incorporate her menu plans but also try to use up what I do have in my house as well. I will plan not to buy anything that isn't considered a real food, but I have to use up what is left in my house at some point. We have changed our diets a LOT since my diabetes diagnosis, but there are still some interesting things in my cabinets.

So, how did I start our day? Well, Lisa Leake says to drink only "water, milk, tea, or coffee". Today, I started by using only MILK and HONEY in my coffee...different! I went out and bought half-and-half to try instead of milk...I will stick with the honey though for now. Just can't overdo it with my diabetes.

I will continue to update as we go along this summer. Should be interesting to try life with less processed foods. I'm kind of excited!

Birthday Invitation

My DS is having a birthday party very soon. He wanted to have a "cowboy" party, so we are going with it. A very good friend of mine gave him a cowboy hat for Christmas this past year and he already had his beloved boots. So, this will be so much fun!

I created the birthday invitation using the photo editing tools Picnic (before it shut down), Picasa, and Google Creative+. Between the three tools we are set to go. I had them printed at Walgreens and it saves me a ton of money! Who can beat invitations for less than $0.19 each and they aren't hand written?!?

Planting a garden...

I feel quite accomplished today. I got my tomatoes planted and a variety of pepper plants planted. Our radishes should be ready soon and I can't wait! I saw one of the women on Food Network roast radishes and carrots in the oven and they looked amazing! Never thought to do that before.

Spring has arrived!

So, it has been a while since I last blogged. But, life happens...

I'm very happy it is SPRING now, BUT my "touch of asthma" is NOT enjoying all the pollen. However, despite all the pollen, Grant and I have a cute little garden in our backyard just a growing. I plan to plant the BIG garden out at the farm this weekend if I can get some help! I NEED a BIG garden this year.

This summer I plan to can green beans, tomatoes, pears, and figs. I might try to get some corn growing and freeze that along with squash and zucchini. I wish there was a way to preserve lettuce...

We also have several fruit trees we planted last year and this year. I can't wait for my lemon trees to make fruit! They already have blooms! 

Day 3 of taking wallpaper down...

Well, 2 1/2 days technically I guess...

anyway....it's going slowly, but I have only messed one wall up by removing too much drywall...Grant messed the other wall up, so only 2 walls no harmed! HA! I have removed the front of the wallpaper and now I'm working on spraying Piranha Gel Wallpaper Remover. It's working like a charm! I love this stuff! What a great invention! The paper backing just peels right off.